abit AW9D-MAX i975 Express Motherboard Review

Audio Performance

The Rightmark Audio Analyzer suite is designed for testing quality of analog and digital paths of any audio devices, be it a sound card, an MP3 player, a consumer CD/DVD player or an acoustic set. The results are obtained by playing and recording test signals passed through the tested audio path by means of frequency analysis algorithms. To complete this test we ran an external loopback (line-out – line-in) for the testing chain and compare it to the Intel D975XBX2 Bad Axe 2 motherboard.

The Dynamic Range and Noise Level on the Intel D975XBX2 is far superior to the abit AW9D-MAX as the greater the dBA the better, but when it comes to THD and IMD the abit AW9D-MAX comes out on top since lower percentages mean better audio. With the the noise level and dynamic range on the abit AW9D-MAX motherboard being average, die hard gamers and audiophiles will need to seek an add-in card to reach the levels they demand.